Post driving device



Dec. 24, 1963 L. e. LINABERY 3,115,199 7 POST DRIVING DEVICE Original Filed Aug. 8, 1958 v M W i 1 I w I /7 I I Faaaway U M F 1 I f %/-"%M HTTORNEYS United States Patent I 3,115,199 P-QST DRE/ENG DEVKCE Linferd G. Linahery, Gladwin, Mich. Continuation of application Ser. No. 754,042, Aug. 3, 1958. This application Aug. 11, 1960, st. No. 49,403 1 Chaim. (Cl. 175152) This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 754,042, filed August 8, 1958, and now abandoned.

This invention relates to improvements in post driving devices and more particularly to an apparatus used in driving posts, stakes, and the like, into the ground.

One of the prime objects of the invention is to design a simple, practical, compact and inexpensive, easily portable driver for easily and quickly driving posts on high ways, for mounting highway signs and markers of all kinds, also for posts in cities for mounting street signs, for driving stakes for barricades and guard rails, and in other places where it is necessary for one or a multiplicity of posts to be driven.

Another object of the invention is to design a driver which can easily be operated by one workman; which permits the workman to stand close to the post as it is being driven, and which is equipped with elongated depending handles which can be grasped anywhere intermediate their length so that the stroke or path of travel of the workmans arms remains the same during the entire driving operation, regardless of the fact that the top of the post is being continuously lowered as it is driven into the ground by the workman. The fact that the operator can stand close to the post and can grasp the handles at any point intermediate their length, permits the workmans arm to travel in exactly the same path, and with the same length of stroke each time until the post is driven to required depth; there is no raising of the device with the arms outstretched to cause strain and fatigue, and the device is lifted exactly the same each time. Consequently there is no need to compensate for the continued lowering of the head of the post as it is being driven.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing a highway post with my improved driver device in position thereon.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, part sectional, elevational view illustrating the construction.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view thereof.

Referring now more specifically to FIG. 1 of the drawing, I have shown the preferred embodiment of my invention in position on a highway post P for driving it into the ground.

The driver comprises a preferably, but not necessarily, cylindrical member 15, open at its lower end, and of a size and shape to readily accommodate the upper end of a conventional highway post P on which a road sign or marker (not shown) is adapted to be mounted. A plurality of circumferentially spaced apart openings 11 are provided in the cylinder at a point spaced from the upper end thereof, and a weight 12 is inserted in the end of the cylinder, and is secured in position therein by Welding through the openings 11 and also around the upper edge of the cylinder as shown.

A pair of operating handles 14 are secured to the cylinder 10 adjacent the upper end thereof, the upper portion of each handle being angled as at 15 to extend at an acute angle toward the cylinder and having its upper end welded to the wall of the cylinder at 16. Each handle projects a considerable distance below the lower end of the cylinder so that the workman can grasp the handles at a point substantially even with his waistline, and con- 3,Ill5,l99 Patented Dec. 24, 1963 tinue so to do until the post is driven. Block spacers 17 are interposed between the handles 14- and cylinder 10, and are welded to the handles and cylinder respectively; the end walls of the blocks being shaped to snugly fit the curvature of the cylinder and the handles respectively.

In practice, the Workman places the cylinder 10 over the end of the highway post P which is spotted in desired position, and then with the arms hanging downwardly, he grasps the handles to raise the device a short distance, which is called the stroke; then permitting it to drop, creating a sharp hammer blow on the upper end of the post, the handles sliding through the hands as the device is dropped, thus eliminating the transmission of shock to the workmans arms.

The length of the handles is important because raising the device is a lifting movement, the arms being bent at the elbows, and the handles must be sufficiently long to permit the repetitive movement and in the same horizontal plane.

It will be understood that the Workman grasps the handles at a slightly different point each stroke to compensate for the distance the stake or post is driven by the previous hammer blow, the raising and dropping of the device being continued until the stake has been driven to required depth.

From the foregoing description, it will be obvious that I have perfected a very simple, practical and inexpensive driver for driving highway posts, stakes and posts of all kinds, which can be easily operated by one man with a minimum of fatigue, and which is readily portable from one location to another.

I claim:

A post driving device comprising a hollow, elongate tubular member of such size as to receive a post therein and having a number of openings therein adjacent to one end thereof; a weighted block received within said member at said one end thereof; Welding secured to said block and extending through said openings to fix said block within said member at said one end thereof; a pair of elongate handle members having their major portions parallel to one another and to said tubular member and being located on opposite sides of said tubular member, corresponding ends of said handle members being bent to converge obliquely at an acute angle towards said tubular member, the converging ends of said handle members being secured to said tubular member intermediate the ends thereof and axially spaced from said block; and spaced apart spacer members interposed between the parallel portions of said handle members and said tubular member and secured to said members to maintain them in parallel relation, said major portions of said handle members being of such length as to extend beyond said tubular member a distance suificient to enable the handle members to be grasped during use with the forearms of the user substantially horizontal.

References (liter! in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,859,398 Judd May 24, 1932 2,098,146 Hunt Nov. 2, 1937 2,225,765 Brice Dec. 24, 1940 2,598,565 Lagant May 27, 1952 2,629,985 McDowell Mar. 3, 1953 2,690,055 Ludgren et al. Sept. 28, 1954 2,890,532 Ellison June 16, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 475,974 Canada Aug. 7, 1951 

